Chapter 816 - 802: When the Spores Bloom
Muling Castle, Puki’s voice echoed through the sky via amplified magic.
"Demon Slime Evil Old Deng King, are you home?"
"If you are, come out and face death! Don’t think about hiding and launching a sneak attack; that will only involve innocent demons throughout the city!"
"You also wouldn’t want this majestic Royal Capital with centuries of history to turn to ashes due to your cowardice and meanness, would you?"
"Evil Slime, quickly come out to face the challenge!"
In the sky above, there were many moving black dots circling Muling Castle; those were the reconnaissance Pukis. Lin Jun was attempting to confirm whether the Demon King was there through these Pukis.
These Pukis didn’t dare to get too close. As the Imperial Capital, Muling Castle naturally boasted top-tier defensive setups, even surpassing Fungus Castle in this aspect. Those Pukis that didn’t manage their distances well had already turned into a pile of ashes.
This was one of the main reasons why Lin Jun suspected the Demon King was inside Muling Castle. A great castle like Muling Castle could be defended for a long time by merely a force of ten thousand elites accompanied by one or two strong figures, even if Ji Divine Soldiers and Leviathan Pukis weren’t deployed, successfully holding off the Puki Army of Fungus Castle.
There was clearly no reason for the Demon King to give up on this place.
And through the vision of Oath City, Lin Jun knew that the Empire had already deployed all of its top combat power to attack Oath City, with only the Demon King yet to make an appearance.
So, either the Demon King was hiding inside Muling Castle, or that Prince Visarus, who had vanished, had renewed his loyalty to the Demon King and was guarding Muling Castle for him.
Unfortunately, neither has been discovered as of now.
...
At the top of a tall tower within Muling Castle, Tanaka propped himself by the window, looking out at the Puki Army poised to move across the plains outside the city, covering his ears.
He felt that just the sound itself already constituted a form of spiritual attack, causing goosebumps to pop up layer upon layer on his skin despite the distance, while it was unknown how the Demon Race soldiers on the walls were enduring it.
The annoying voice seemed to grow more impatient; Tanaka estimated that the first round of attacks was about to come, and thus left the window.
Tanaka descended the spiral staircase, and at the corner, a Lizardman maid collided with him, scattering the items she was carrying—all of which were golden utensils and gems—across the ground.
The golden utensils were things like candlesticks and plates, and the gemstones were likely pried from picture frames or elsewhere inside the castle.
In short, it was obvious that these were not possessions that the present maid should have.
After the collision, the Lizardman maid stared over in a panic, as if caught red-handed in theft.
Noticing the person in front of her was a human and not one of the Demon Race, she let out a sigh of relief facing Tanaka.
She quickly gathered the items that had scattered, and before leaving, gave Tanaka a spiteful glare.
"Who would want to employ Lizardman maids anyway..."
Though he had seen them many times, Tanaka couldn’t appreciate this scaly variant.
It was clear that this maid had stolen from the castle and was planning to escape.
Moreover, she wasn’t the first to flee in recent days.
Tanaka wasn’t surprised, as Muling Castle was currently in a state of being leaderless.
The Demon King wasn’t present, and the Duke Virelis, originally tasked with defending the city, claimed to be intercepting the Puki Army but disappeared shortly after leaving Muling Castle.
Now that the Puki Army had arrived at the city, Virelis’s fate was predictable.
Without a guiding figure, there was panic within Demon Heart in Muling Castle.
Days prior, Tanaka overheard servants discussing that the Demon King plans to abandon the entire empire’s territory and switch to conquering the human lands, meanwhile defending them at the High Castle Fortress against Fungus Castle.
This statement was indeed ridiculous, but it undeniably reflected the pessimistic expectations of the demons inside the castle.
In such a situation, opting to flee wasn’t surprising.
Rather, considering that the defenders in Muling Castle were the empire’s elite, despite morale being so low, they were still holding the walls and confronting the Fungus Castle army—it showed their high loyalty.
However, if the Demon King didn’t return to take charge, even elite forces would collapse within days.
Tanaka didn’t intend to sink with Muling Castle.
He made his way down to the bottom of the tower and pushed open a door.
Jiro, the awakened Foxman for several days, was leaning against the bedhead, gazing up at the dreary sky outside the window.
Since awakening, he regularly found himself in a daze, appearing as two different foxes compared to his pre-comatose state.
Tanaka secured his weapon, stuffed his backpack with items and rations, tightened the bag, and looked at the still-dazed Foxman.
"Jiro, aren’t you going to escape? Your biggest fear, the mushroom, is about to spread. Surely you’re not saying Muling Castle can still be defended?"
Upon hearing his name, Jiro’s gaze returned from the window.
He slowly removed his hands from under the bedding, showing them to Tanaka.
The once-glossy white fur had completely fallen off, leaving only bare pink arms, wrinkled and resembling dried branches.
"You go by yourself, it’s no longer necessary for me." Jiro’s voice was faint, "Although, I think you don’t need to run either."
"Not running? Staying and getting mushrooms growing on me?" Tanaka frowned, "Didn’t you say that the Mushroom Lord wouldn’t spare us?"
Jiro looked at Tanaka, who had been forced to help him for years, with a touch of sympathy in his eyes.
He hesitated for a moment, finally ceasing to speak in riddles: "Not just the Mushroom Lord—even if the Demon King wins, the outcome is the same for you. Ever since you acquired [Laziness], everything has been predestined."
"I knew it!" Tanaka couldn’t resist twitching at his eye’s corner upon learning of his inevitable demise, "But ironically it’s because of [Laziness]? Wait, hold on! If my [Laziness] and your [Restraint] are so important, then why would the Demon King let us remain in Muling Castle without any concern?"
"Because we’re mere keys, just existing is sufficient." The Foxman glanced at him, "That is all I know regarding this; even in simulations, I didn’t have the opportunity to see the door we’re needed to open..."
"I...still don’t quite understand, but I won’t just sit and wait for death."
Listening to Tanaka’s declaration of struggle, Jiro merely looked more sympathetically.
"Let’s not focus on me," Tanaka inquired once more earnestly, "Jiro, has your world-saving prophecy already failed?"
Jiro didn’t confirm nor deny but shrugged: "I’m not sure."
"Not sure?"
"I’m not going to last long enough to see it far ahead, am I?" Jiro raised his shriveled hands, turning them over, as though playing with something that didn’t belong to him, "Yet, originally the apocalypse was due next month. Now, something has changed. Not the kind of change I initially desired, rather a change I had never anticipated... Sadly, I won’t live to see the conclusion."
At this point, the Foxman, usually so composed, finally showed a trace of regret on his face.
Tanaka nodded thoughtfully, at the door, with his hand on the handle, asking his final question:
"Speaking of it, Jiro, what exactly does the apocalypse you mentioned look like? I know that, despite being infested by mycelium, folks around Fungus Castle seem to live fairly normal lives. Even if the Mushroom Lord wins, it’s just everyone becoming Fungus Men—it doesn’t seem like destruction at all, does it?"
"Of course not, by destruction, I meant..." Jiro looked over, and Tanaka read an emotion known as fear in his eyes, "When the spores bloom, all things return to the fungal soil, with no living beings left in the world."